


Dancing With Dryads

by Aria_Lerendeair



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dryad!Sam, Greek Mythology References, M/M, human!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-23 21:52:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6131310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aria_Lerendeair/pseuds/Aria_Lerendeair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The forest has always been MORE than it appeared to be, but when Gabriel meets Sam, a Dryad, he isn't expecting to become part of that more himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dancing With Dryads

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ichoosedestiel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ichoosedestiel/gifts).



> I don't know why, Amanda, the world seems to be determined to tell you I have not written a fic for you, but I hope that you like this regardless!

 

 

“Gabriel!”  

Gabriel ducked under another branch and ran further into the forest behind his house.  It would only go on for another hundred yards or so and then he’d be free and Luci and Michael could fucking stuff it.  Hell, maybe he would die out here and then they’d be sorry.  

They only stopped fighting long enough to yell at him anyways.  He tripped over a root and hit the ground hard, grunting in pain.  Gabriel forced himself back into his feet and then nearly fell, leaning against a tree as he stared down at his foot.  

He couldn’t even manage to run away properly!  He had to hurt himself, less than two hundred yards from home.  Gabriel knew it could call for help and that Michael and Luci would frown at him the entire time they helped him home.  

He clenched his eyes shut and banged his head on the moss-covered tree beside him.  "Such a fuck up, I can’t even run away properly.“  

"Why do you wanna run away?”  

Gabriel looked up and froze at the sight of a young man reclining in the branches of the tree above him.  He stumbled backwards.  "Wh-what?“  

The young man shrugged.  "I’m curious.  Why do you wanna run away?”  

“Gabriel, we will leave you out here all night!” Michael called.  

“We’ll even lock the doors so you can’t get inside!” Lucifer taunted.  

Gabriel looked up at the other man and shrugged.  "Those are my brothers.  Might have something to do with them and their winning personalities.“  

He tilted his head.  "Why would they leave you outside?  It’s going to get cold tonight.”  

Gabriel huffed out a laugh and shook his head.  "It doesn’t matter, I’m hurt, I’m going to need their help getting back to the house.“  

The young man landed lightly on his feet in front of the other.  "You’re hurt?”  

Gabriel gestured to his ankle.  "Yeah, twisted my ankle, can’t put any weight on it.  So I’ll need their help to get home.  Where they will yell at me for running away, then yell at me for getting hurt, and then, when they remember, they’ll yell at me for me not wanting to go to college like they are,“ he said, shrugging.  "I’m used to it.”  

“Family shouldn’t do that,” The young man said, frowning again.  "Do you have another place that you can stay tonight?“  

Gabriel shook his head.  "No, I don’t, and if I do stay anywhere else, they’ll really give it to me tomorrow.  Now, excuse me, I have to tell them not to lock my ass out of the house.”  

The young man shook his head.  "Allow me,“ he said, lifting his hand to his mouth before letting out a loud and shrill whistle.

Immediately the sounds of Lucifer and Michael tromping through the woods started to get closer.  

Gabriel let out an impressed whistle and he smiled at the other man.  "Gabriel Novak,” he said, holding his hand out.  

“I like the name Sam,” Sam said, shaking Gabriel’s hand slowly.  He lifted a necklace from around his neck and placed it around Gabriel’s.  "Here.  A gift.“  

Gabriel blinked in surprise and looked at the fine gold chain and the stone hanging almost at his waist.  "What?  A gift?  Why?”  

Sam smiled and tilted his head.  "When you find that you want a place to escape to, that will help you find me.  Just come into the forest, wrap your hand around it, and I will find you.“  

Gabriel wanted to ask more questions, but Lucifer and Michael appeared together and he only just had enough time to tuck the chain under his shirt before he told them that he was hurt.  A little of the anger faded from their eyes when they caught sight of his ankle.  

Unfortunately, that didn’t save him from the lectures that he received.  

~!~!~

It was another month before Gabriel could go back out to the forest.  He pulled out the chain from under his shirt and wrapped his fingers around the jagged stone, stepping past the treeline.  

"Hello again,” A smooth voice said.  

Gabriel grinned, bright and wide as Sam stepped out from behind a tree.  "Sam!“  

Sam smiled at him and Gabriel stuck his hand out before he thought the better of it.  "I was hoping you would be here!" 

Sam nodded and shook his hand slowly, carefully.  "It is a pleasure to see you again, Gabriel.“  

"You’re a dryad, aren’t you?” Gabriel asked, watching as Sam moved through the forest, almost as though his feet weren’t touching the ground.  

Sam smiled again.  "I am.  You know of us?“  

"Yeah,” Gabriel said, his face splitting into a smile.  "Mom would come out here all of the time to talk to you.  She used to tell stories of dances with you.“  

Sam hummed as he led Gabriel deeper into the forest.  "I remember her.  She doesn’t come any longer.  Has she passed?”  

Gabriel kept his hand clenched around the stone as he followed Sam.  "Yeah.  Couple of years ago now.  Dad, well, Dad’s a mess, and Luci and Michael are trying to take over the family, which is even more of a mess.“  

"They wish for you to go somewhere you do not?” Sam said, stopping next to his tree, pressing his palm to it.  

“Yeah.  College.  I graduated from high school two years ago, and according to them I’ve been wasting my time doing nothing,” Gabriel said, blowing out a breath as he closed his eyes.  He could feel the quiet pulse of power in the forest, and his Mom had talked about it, how easy it was to feel the elements, their touch.  

“What do you wish to do?” Sam asked, turning to face Gabriel again.  His face was blissful and Gabriel could see the forest responding to him, light filtering through the trees brighter than before, illuminating him gold.  

Gabriel shrugged and opened his eyes again, looking at Sam.  "I don’t know.  I feel stuck.“  He laughed and pushed his fingers through his hair.  "I am stuck, really.”

Sam considered this and looked at Gabriel.  "You are not stuck.  You are without purpose.  There is a difference.  If you were to have a purpose, you would succeed.“  

"You think so?” Gabriel asked, walking over to Sam’s tree, pressing his hand to it.  He could feel the pulse of power within it, and smiled, pressing both hands to it.  

“You speak to us so easily.  Not even your mother had that gift,” Sam said, watching Gabriel.  

Gabriel blinked and pulled his hands away, looking up at Sam.  "I do?“  

"Yes,” Sam said, nodding.  "You hear our voices, no matter how we communicate.  Wind, water, fire, earth.  You hear us in all of them.“  

Gabriel laughed a little and nodded.  "Yeah, I mean, you’re in all of them, right?  Some more than others, but you’re always in those.”  

Sam tapped his chin for a long moment.  "Can you come tomorrow night?  There is a festival.  We will all be here.“  

"All?” Gabriel asked, his eyes going a little wide.  "Why do you want me there?  Didn’t, shouldn’t your liaison come instead?  I’m a piss-poor emissary for the humans.“  

Sam laughed and shook his head.  "On the contrary, I think you are exactly what we need.  Will you come tomorrow night?”  

Gabriel sucked in a hard breath and stared at Sam.  Sam’s laugh sounded like bells and sunlight and he could almost catch the image of the sun through the branches of Sam’s tree.  "Yeah.  I’ll come tomorrow night.  Do, I uh, have to wear anything formal?“  

"Bring yourself and your joy.  That is all that is ever required.  It is a celebration of summer, and the growth of the forest,” Sam said, walking back towards Gabriel’s home.  

Gabriel hurried up and started to follow Sam back towards the edge of the forest.  He was nervous and excited for tomorrow night all at the same time.

~!~!~

Lucifer and Michael had laughed at him when he had said what he was going into the forest to do.  Told him that everything was old wives tales and he should leave matters like that to the elders, and focus on picking out a school to attend in the fall.  

Gabriel ignored them all and debated on what he was supposed to wear.  In the end, he went for comfort.  If he was going to be dancing all night, he wanted to be comfortable.  Black jeans and a black t-shirt were enough, he was pretty sure.  He wore Sam’s necklace, out and proud as he walked barefoot towards the edge of the forest.  

Sam was waiting for him, smiling bright and wide at the sight of him.  

Gabriel grinned and ran the last few steps.  Sam held out his hand and Gabriel took it and watched as the forest spun.  Magic, deep, earth-bound magic tugged at him and then they were at a clearing with a large bonfire.  "Where are we?“ he asked, looking up at Sam.  

Sam smiled and pulled Gabriel closer to the bonfire.  "In a deeper forest about twenty miles away.  You are safe here, and I will take you home after the dance is over.”  

Gabriel should have been more wary of Sam, trusting him after having met him only a couple of times, but here, where he could feel the magic pulsing around all of them, nothing mattered except the dance.  

He met dryad after dryad, naiads, satyrs and all of them smiled at him, as Sam introduced him to them all.  Sam’s necklace around his neck shone bright and wide and Gabriel knew the instant the music started.  It didn’t come from any instrument.  It was purer than that.  Deeper than that.  They all felt it though.  

Sam’s hand stayed firm around his as they moved together, and Gabriel completely lost himself to the joyous abandon of the dance.  It pulsed through all of them, and the joy of the magic they could all feel was a tangible force as the fire burned ever hotter.  

Eventually though, he was reminded that he was human and he needed to stop for a drink.  Sam laughed and danced him to the edge of the circles and brought him over to where a few small coolers were.  

“There are a great deal of halflings here, sons and daughters of humans and forest and river spirits.  They require refreshment and water, just as you do,” Sam explained, handing a water bottle to Gabriel.  

Gabriel chugged down the water gratefully, sprinkling the last bit of the bottle against his face and shaking his head to spray Sam with the water.  Sam only gave him a delighted laugh and swept him up and into his arms again.  

“What do you think you are doing!” A sharp voice cut through the pulse of music that was pulling him again and Gabriel snapped to attention as his father started to stride towards him from the edge of the forest.  He was in all white robes, the mark of the elders.  

Gabriel froze and stared at his father, terror blunting the call of the music, and the power that he could feel in the field.  He cowered and tried to explain.  "I just, I could feel, I wanted-“  

"Go home this instant!  Whoever brought you here, you have disgraced humans, participating in this ritual without express-”  

“Is there a problem?” Sam said, stepping up beside Gabriel, wrapping an arm around his waist.  

Gabriel nearly sagged with relief as Sam came up beside him.  "I, my father, I didn’t ask for permission-“

"You are my guest,” Sam said, his voice firm.  "You can feel the magic, and you are here to celebrate with us.  There is no other permission required.“  

Gabriel looked from Sam to his father, whose face had gone dark with rage, torn with indecision.  

"Gabriel, you will come with me right this INSTANT.”  

“I,” Gabriel looked up at Sam, at the dancing circle just beyond him.  The crystal Sam had given him felt too warm against his chest and he stepped back, away from Sam and his father.  It was burning under his skin, he had to get away, he was stuck, it was sticking again, he needed freedom, he needed to breathe.  

“Gabriel,” His father warned.  

The music was too loud and Gabriel covered his ears, because it was pounding and it hurt and he needed to make it stop.  He could feel the warm of the gem Sam had given him and he wrapped his hand around it, trying to focus on it, but now the music was too loud, too much!  

“Gabriel,” Sam whispered, his tone revenant.  

“Stop!” Gabriel shouted, clenching his eyes shut.  "Stop stop stop!“

Just like that, the music went silent, and Gabriel fell to his knees in relief.  Sam’s stone was still warm in his fist and Gabriel smiled down at it.  He opened his eyes and looked back up at his Father and Sam.  

His father’s eyes were wide, shock obvious.  Sam?  Sam looked proud and Gabriel had never seen a smile that made his heart turn over in his chest like Sam’s did.  "Is everything all right?”  

“Gabriel,” Sam said with a little laugh.  "You need to look behind you.“  

Gabriel turned around and gasped, his eyes flying wide open.  The bonfire was extinguished and instead there were two giant wings, made of flames, fanning out from his shoulders.  "Wh-what?”  

Sam turned back to Gabriel’s father.  "You will leave him to finish the dance now, and we we will finish it in his honor.“  

"Sam,” Gabriel said, his voice shaking as he turned to face the dryad.  "What, what am-“  

"Shhh,” Sam whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to Gabriel’s forehead.  "You are human, as you always have been.  But you have been blessed by the ceremony tonight, and we shall finish the dance for you.“  

Gabriel took a deep breath and relaxed and felt the fire leave his back and return to the bonfire where it had been.  He looked up at Sam and grinned, bright and wide.  "That was the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.”  

“For me as well,” Sam agreed, taking both of Gabriel’s hands.  

The music was back again, happy and joyful and Gabriel threw himself into it with abandon.  He found himself the center of multiple circles with Sam and couldn’t mind.  Sam’s stone was still bright and hot against his chest, even at the end of the night, when the last of the embers were fading away with the first lights of dawn.  

When they were the last to remain in the forest, and Sam took him back to the familiar forest and even more familiar tree, Gabriel found himself unwilling to walk away from Sam.  "Sam?“  

"Yes, Gabriel?” Sam asked, lifting Gabriel’s hand to press a kiss to the back of it.  

“What’s the significance of the stone?  Is it just a way to call you?” Gabriel asked, tangling his fingers in the small gold chain.  

Sam shook his head.  "It is my home.  A piece of my home.  A way to mark my intended.“  

Gabriel raised both eyebrows and stared at Sam.  "Your intended?”  

Sam stared down at Gabriel and smiled, leaning down to press another kiss to his forehead, then to both of his cheeks, and finally to his lips.  "You shine golden, like the light of the brightest sun.  Your laughter is the freshest stream of water.  Your smile?  The first warm winds of spring after a long winter.  You are the most beautiful creature I have ever met, and yes, when, and if you are ever ready, you are my intended.“  

Gabriel snapped his mouth shut when he realized he was staring at Sam in shock and grumbled at him.  "How the hell am I supposed to follow that up?  Honestly.”  

Sam blinked in confusion.  "Gabriel?“  

Gabriel reached up and tugged Sam down and into a kiss.  "Come here, Sam.”  

Even though the ceremony was long over, Gabriel could hear the music again, dancing around them both.  When their lips finally parted, Gabriel looked up at Sam and smiled, bright and wide.  "Emissary, huh?“  

"Yes.  Our chosen emissary, and not someone assigned by the humans,” Sam agreed, reaching down to touch his stone.  

“I think I could get used to that,” Gabriel said, pulling Sam down for another kiss.  

“Your mother would be proud,” Sam whispered, wrapping his arms around Gabriel.  

If Gabriel hadn’t been certain about his choice before (though he had been, especially if Sam kept kissing him like that), those words would have sealed the deal.  

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Criticisms welcome!
> 
> You can find me here: 
> 
> [Aria-Lerendeair ](http://aria-lerendeair.tumblr.com/)
> 
> You can also watch me write fics like this (and dozens of others) live! Follow me on Livestream for fics, shenanigans and a general all-around awesome time! http://new.livestream.com/accounts/7212317


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